MY WITCH 37: The Stolen Heart
by NotQuiteNormOld
Summary: In Meridian, the Infinite City occupied by Phobos' guards leaves a thousand rebels with nowhere to hide while Caleb and the Guardians have to get close enough to warn Elyon, but they can't do it without the Heart of Kandrakar, which has been stolen..
1. Chapter 1

Uh.. Yeah.. WARNING. Bio hazard in that Nerissa.. Well, I'm much more AU in Nerissa than Phobos - it's more of my own storyline, basically about 90% own version and.. Yeah.. It's M-rated for a reason.

* * *

><p>Nerissa felt fire, as she watched the child sleep. She'd been watching for hours. Blocked out. "Wake up Will.."<p>

The little girl slept on, as she had for hours, but Nerissa felt an impatience setting in, and waved two fingers in a more leisurely fashion than she felt, as the numbers on the clock went blank and the radio began to buzz. Louder. Louder. "Mmngn.."

Louder. Clearer. _#..Fz.. This is Heatherfield FM.. Early morning.. Fzzz.. Good morning! ..Fzz..#_

_"Shut uuup.."_ The little girl whimpered, and the clock almost obliged, but Nerissa frowned; preventing it. Louder. Louder. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP! _"I'm up! ..Stupid alarm clock, I'll- It's four AM!"_

"Don't be lazy. Get up, you little.." It was time to go. If Will refused to bow to dreams, then she would bow to the daylight itself.

**...**

"Jesus.. Fucking.." Will slid bare feet onto the icy surface of the bedroom carpet, and pushed herself to sit.. She felt a lot better, now, and found that the faulty alarm clock had done her good to wake her up; the only tiredness being of usual fatigue: the wishfulness that morning was far more distant than reality proved, though she stood anyway and rearranged her hair, pushing it back - her eyes instantly catching the snow outside. Thicker now.. A solid layer had quilted her windowsill from the outside.

Will stretched her arms out, as she left the room, and a wave of icy cold froze her over when the bathroom door welcomed her with a gust of frosty air that told her the window had been left open. And she grimaced, pushing into the bitter room, and blinking away the chills of the winter night she'd awoken into. _"Will.."_

"Hu-" Will shook her head, and pushed forward, as the whispers of her dream called to her; probably looking for her to return to her bed, but she was too cold now. "Stupid mother, leaving the window-"

_"Listen to me." _Will paused, swallowing slightly, but pushed herself up to stand on the toilet-seat; leaning over to reach the window and thanking God that no one was here to see her; in pink, brushed cotton pajamas, because her mother had left her laundry undone. You're a grown girl Will. Do your own laundry Will. _"Listen!"_

"You're not real.." Will mumbled out tired words; slipping down to sit, but.. _CRACK! _Will stood alert, because the window had shattered, and she shivered as the icy cold air rushed in.

**...**

"Clumsy girl. Baby. You listen to me." Nerissa frowned; her dying skin crawling at the impervious innocence; the ignorance that youth bestowed. This child was a mess. Halfway looking like a boy, Nerissa had been beautiful. She knew; no one had ever told her different. She had been near perfection, when people described her. But Will's soft brown eyes - the muddy colour was the closest thing to a compliment to her impish face - seemed fixed to the crack and Nerissa knew that the child could hear her. "If you don't listen.."

_"Jesus, like I need another thing to-" _Tension grasped her, and Nerissa snarled as the pixie cried out; Nerissa's hand fisting and pulling, as Will's arm forced itself outwith the girl's control. _"Wha-"_

The next follows, was a sharp scream, but Nerissa continued to draw clawing long nails over the icy snow that ignored the lava-fire. And blood lit that snow; colouring white with soaking drops, and Nerissa turned out the screaming in the mind; only watching in the eyes of a ghost, as she scrabbled for nothing, that was slicing her skin. Served her right. Should have listened. "Tsk, tsk.. What will your mother say..?"

Sludged brown lit with uncertainty, and Nerissa smirked. So she could hear now.. Nerissa dug her nails into the snow. Dug her nails right into the earth below, and revealed where teeth had rotten out as she grinned at the baby, who'd writhed and caved to the floor; her arm still agilely permanent in the air; blood still gushing up. _"NO! GET OFF OF ME! PLEASE!"_

"She'll send you away.." Nerissa smirked at the fear. Impressing herself as she lifted her hand; soaking fingers dribbling with thick maroon. "Are you dreaming now, little_ baby_?"


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah.. _'Ryan'_.. Sorry.. I think Nerissa is just insane.. And before I start grossing people out.. I warn, that she has no relation to Caleb - That whole mother thing was just.. No.. And then Cedric and Miranda? Yeah, they weren't allowed to show 'dying' because it'd scare children... As if interbreeding pedophilia could do any harm, and women as old as Yan Lin being with Julian.. Shouldn't there have been like, menopausal problems with that story..

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><p>"<em>FIND ANYTHING THE REBELS LEFT BEHIND! PLANS! FOOD! STRIP THIS CITY BARE!<em>" Aldarn forced out controlled breaths, as the crowded room silently listened to the echoes from above. They were being ransacked; Aldarn had never expected it to happen, but Lord Cedric was up there, and the Infinite City had been called upon to be searched.

Whispers rattled, too hushed to seem as more than a gust of breeze to Aldarn, but he felt calmer for the fact that his charge had been revoked. He knew why, but Caleb had been right; sending word and a signed referral along with Vathek, that he'd left charge between Aketon and Drake. Aldarn was left, then. Caleb was predisposed; compulsively dependent on Will, and Aldarn had no business faulting pure unrefined love.. He'd betrayed it. Betrayed Caleb. Aldarn had betrayed Will and he didn't know how he had gone from worrying about her, to desperately attempting to sell word of her presence for a glass of water. "How long do you think they will keep looking for?"

"Shht." It was funny, that he was the understudy now, and yet Drake was asking questions, but he didn't mind. Drake had been nearly taken, apparently; a slicing wound that had deeply opened between his abdomen and right up to slice off a certain layer from his neck, and Aldarn knew that Drake had wanted the scars, but he'd been dying, again. Aldarn's eyes traced up the smooth skin of his friend's neck, which had been warped when he'd first seen him again.. The Mage's water was a blessful healer, though Aldarn wished that she would stop talking. She'd kept speaking _'Chaleb vero cursore'_, and it hadn't been until she'd asked to Chálev that Aldarn realized. She didn't even know that Caleb wasn't here. Perhaps she'd gone blind, though perhaps she always had been. She didn't complain, as she kept speaking of Caleb in a language he didn't understand, that his new leader's decision had them all within her place.[0]

"_The witch they call the Mage is the lasst vesstige of the Ancient Empire_." Aldarn swallowed, as Drake unsheathed his knife, already laced in blood. That was another thing; one drop and the Mage would probably kill them all - this was probably more dangerous than facing Cedric once again. "_Why, when you captured the City, was she not brought out with the rest of them!_"

Them, being the women. The women were gone, and the sicker, weaker men. "_Even the rebels, fear her power. I sent five men in.. N-none of them returned._"

Aldarn swallowed, because Caleb would berate their clumsiness, had he been there. If they didn't come out, Cedric would suspect; Drake was wrong about the fear of the Mage. It wouldn't drive them away. And Caleb would scold that they'd come in in such numbers anyway - the Mage needed her respects, Caleb was very thorough of that. "_Then go in yoursself._"

**...**

****Silence stretched, as Will pulled her legs tighter against her chest; ignoring the sticky warm sensation that dug into the sheer pain of her limp arm, which had hollowed out numbly, and was currently drenched, but she ignored it as her cheeks clammed with a second solution, she found that as far as her empathy could skillfully push down the emotion, her eyes steamed forcefully and the fear kept coming back.. Or was it building? More fear came once again; the fear that if she let go she would simply die; if she let everything fall where it would."_They aren't your dreams anymore.._"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry." Will found herself nodding, at the voice that had clearly proven it's point.. A wispy snarl that seemed hard of breath, and she nodded through erratic shakes, biting her lips as another wave of tremors consumed her; the ice blowing in as air from the window, playfully entwining and filtering into her blood, mixing finally, as it made it's way through to her already frozen heart. "I'm-m s-so sorry."

Nothing came, then, for a long time, and Will found curiosity consuming her amongst fear, and she caught her breath, as she commanded her arm; finding it stuck and then almost biting through her lip as she tore it away from the soft pink cotton that dressed her leg; the fastened dry blood creating a noise and wave of pain, as it started bleeding again, and she scrabbled to the sink, swearing forcefully as he fingers cut against the glass that had filled it from the window, but she twisted the tap with trembling fingers and held in nothing when searing water hit and entered her skin. And she could count the lines; four; eight; twelve; the deepest creating a dent within her, and reaching just past her elbow, and them crossing haphazardly down from their, to.. "_You're all alone, Will.._"

Will fisted her free hand over the thinnest trembling slice that threateningly wrote a neat scratch over her wrist, and she could remember that that had been where it had started; quick, gentle; controlled, before madness seized and she stared now at her butchered hand, and a slicing glass within it.. Had she.. No.. It hadn't been her. It hadn't been her! It had been.. Nothing.. Nothing had done this! No.. Something.. Something else! She hadn't! She couldn't! She'd never! "I didn't do it.."

"_Mm.. No, but if you can't even convince yourself.._" Will dropped the glass, then, and shrinkingly stretched the tiny palm, and whimpered at the denting pool of blood began to work it's way.. It was too much blood.. She.. That was too much blood, she needed to stop it. "_You're all alone, Will._"

**...  
><strong>

Janen had been of recent promoted closer to Prince Phobos'. The second after Cedric had been killed, and he stumbled with disgrace down stairs of dim shadows, to the well lit room. Green stone, floating on heavy waters, and water falling that disclosed the Mage's water-pond above the soil.. His eyes traveled down, when his foot hit a clanking metal, before he'd had time to interpret the room further, and he felt a cold rush as he stared down at golden lamps, that he knew to be those of his guards..

..His guards, who also lay across the floor; strewn with dried slashes of blood across their throats.. He'd heard rumors, of Earth being a safe ground. But he was too high up; Lord Cedric had kept tabs on him to the extent that safety was an unreachable thing, and he didn't have time to do more than cry out, as a strong hand pushed his head forward over a blade; he felt the slash for a moment.

**...  
><strong>

****Nerissa smirked, at the mesmerising text; letters on a page, she would have to shake the hand of Will's mother. There had been no influence on the note, though perhaps Kandrakar had seen what a thing this babe was; she was broken; she didn't even work properly. Either way, Nerissa felt desperation coursing through her, as Will rolled tears of her icy fearing heart.

_Sorry, out all day - you're alone for the night! x_

"Oh Will.. You are so, so alone.."

**...**

And Aldarn immediately pushed a cloth onto the slit skin, where Drake's knife had been, and Drake knew it was in avoidance of the Mage's wrath. Not that she'd do anything. She was trapped in a time fix; always saying the same words over; always looking for Caleb. Drake had almost thought she missed him, but no.. She just didn't know he wasn't here, and she had never shown an emotion to the day..

He had been left in charge, along with Aketon, but the man seemed to fear a decision, because Caleb never held anything from Aldarn. Aldarn got whatever the hell he wanted, and something must have happened. And Aldarn had been stubborn to leave his post in lead; constantly berating every word from Drake's mouth until he'd started asking questions. Aldarn seemed to satisfy at that; he was still a part of it. But Aldarn was used to getting whatever the hell he wanted, and he was worst because _Caleb _allowed for Aldarn to be a child, but the war itself beckoned the boy to play a man now that Caleb had been gone. Aldarn was a good child.. But he wasn't ready.

_He _wasn't ready. Drake didn't feel ready, but he knew that everyone was waiting for him to slip. He felt for Aldarn's sourness, because it was hard. But the boy was losing his grip, and Aldarn had always assumed morality by not doing what Drake did. But for every woman Drake touched, the rage inside him; the panic wore back, and he feared that Aldarn would in the end be lost. Lost to something far more sinister.

Aldarn needed to be around goodness again. He needed to see goodness; the closest to the _'un-war'_ for Aldarn was a short memory the boy seemed to recall of there being a sun. It was a fake. Aldarn didn't remember the sun; he saw one and told himself he recalled it. There had used to be three suns.

* * *

><p>[0] Speaking Ancient Meridian<p>

Chaleb vero cursore - (Ancient Meridian) And Caleb the runner.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thanks Mrs Lin!"

"Oh, what a day.."

"What a meal!" Caleb pushed his hands into the pocket of his _winter _coat - apparently he needed one especially for the season, but he didn't bother discriminating whether that was simply another excuse for Hay Lin to play dress up with him like a doll. Besides; Cornelia had got it for him, and he very much appreciated the ongoing mystery of what the little Asian girl might've been planning when she whimpered that he was missing out. Irma was grinning, beside him, and pretending that she couldn't redo her buttons with the falsetto glee she'd dubbed since earlier. _'You told her what!' _Will already had somebody, and he'd let her know.. He had tried, but she thought he was like her.. He was no empath; unless that included the slicing emotion that seemed to be hers enfolding in him.. But she didn't want it; she didn't want him. He just wanted her to understand how hard.. Sometimes, if he let it out he felt like he might just die; whether he'd suffocate, drown, or maybe his heart would give out first.. She was just there. Always. "Nothing like a Kaithim, a war, and rescuing rebels from an evil prince to build your appetite!"

"Hey!" Caleb looked up, as Irma smacked his arm, and he knew that he wasn't concentrating, but he really didn't care to wait for Hay Lin, and nor did Will seem to - her eyes trapped on the pavement as she continued along; her hands burrowed deep within her pockets, as they had seemed to be all through the afternoon that she had been there. "Wait up! I'll walk part way with you!"

She didn't seem comfortable, and Irma seemed to think that Caleb himself was to blame, but he.. He didn't know what else to tell her. That everything came down to her? That everything terrified him now that there was her, and that he wouldn't want to go back if he could? She was someone else's and Caleb could only give her everything that she wanted. But he didn't know what that was anymore- In fact, he'd never known. For a brief moment, he was sure that it had been him, but maybe he only felt what he wanted to.. He wanted her to.. She.. "Phobos is supposed to make his move to drain Elyon's power in one week! How am I meant to get my army across the Meridian Plains to the castle without being seen?"

"How 'bout we disguise them as a thousand door-to-door sales men?" He'd only asked the question to cover the silence; Will's fallen features that seemed to be distant.. She wouldn't even take off her jacket. She'd been cold.. Maybe.. Caleb guessed he didn't have right to opinion; he'd been working, and had barely caught glimpses, until he'd asked Yan Lin to let him go with them.. But Will wouldn't look at him; she wouldn't even speak, and no one even seemed to care.. Something was wrong. "Hi! Would you like to subscribe to Hell and Princess' magazine!"

"Oh, that's real sensitive! Elyon's in serious danger!" Caleb stopped as movement ceased, and even Will's eyes flashed up to the blonde glaring at Irma; glassy, pensive things, that didn't truly seem to be paying attention to the scene unfolding. "Plus, you know what? I am so sick of your dumb, useless jokes! Why don't you try helping for a change!"

"Cornelia.." Caleb's eyes shot back to the redhead, apparently along with everyone's as the first word of the night slipped out as a paled whimper.. She looked tired, in a different way from before but she looked just.. Out of place.. Detached, and he supposed it was just him managing to pull away. She was letting him, now, and all he'd had to do was try to get her to feel..

"Will!" Caleb choked, silently, and turned away, but Irma had a fast hold on his arm and Cornelia only looked away when he met her gaze. Pleading to be taken away because he felt everything pale and quiver; vulnerability exposing him, and Caleb longed to shrink back, away from her first smile of the night. At.. Him.

**...**

"Hi Matt," Will felt her cheeks flushing slightly, because she could feel sharp green piercing her protectively, of the older boy who reciprocated her smile, mirroring a forcedness, though he was only wary that she hadn't picked up the stupid dormouse yet..

"We'll just walk ahead!" Will took in Cornelia's strange, blue eyes as the girl put too much happiness into her voice, and pressed a hand to Caleb's back as Irma yanked away a grinning Hay Lin. So they _were _together then.. Maybe.. Nothing made sense and Will found that she really couldn't care less, as she fisted white bandages that had been wrapped clumsily around her arms. It wasn't.. She knew that she couldn't.. Everyone would..

"You know.. You've been missing a lot of classes lately, and.. Is something wrong?" Will didn't bother to answer, for long seconds, as her eyes rested on his jacket, and she soaked up tears that were brimming within her. It was wrong; everything was wrong, and nothing made sense anymore.. And.. And Caleb hadn't even spoken to her all night, because she was an embarrassment. He knew that she liked him and he was just.. She was his best friend. Nevermind that it was getting harder to remember what had happened this morning.. She had been holding the glass.. Had she broken the window? "You haven't been.. I don't really know, I guess, I mean, it's not like I would know.."

"It's.. Um.." Will swallowed the icy air, but she didn't much feel it. The price of empathy.. She could make herself so numb.. "It's kinda hard to explain.. Believe it or not, I've got bigger problems than missing school right now."

"Is this.. The other day, you were.. Forget it."

"Look.. I'm sorry, I'll see you later, okay?"


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, I'm hoping that as well as contrasting, the second part makes up for the first.. But he hasn't got Miranda and he can't really have Elyon..

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><p>Lord Cedric smirked, as the child trembled gracefully; she could not be fifteen and it was so rare.. She was impish, he supposed, with Meridian Teal hair, but the violet eyes of his betrayer. Not to forget the fear; the stumbling pride that Miranda had carried had been a disgrace, but Cedric smirked; clucking lightly as he rounded the girl. Three thousand, roughly, men had been in the rebellion, but their female numbers almost matched and Lord Cedric grinned when a whimper escaped her trembling lips. "P-please.."<p>

It was too right, Cedric found his fingers brushing her cheek; smirking at her attempt to flinch back before his teeth clashed with hers, and his entity only increased power when she shrieked in his mouth; her fingers digging into him with desperation to leave; to push him back, but she was frail, and small, and it did nothing but to see her watery eyes glistening, as he pounded her against the walls of solitary confinement; his crotch already crushing against her. It had been days; hours.. And then Elyon had, and Miranda had yet to leave the Prince's room for all he had to consider. The bitch; he'd make her pay. He'd make her pay as screams rang out from the absence of his mouth; he'd been biting her anyway, and he pierced his teeth into her neck - it was the price of being named _'safety'_ - and hitched up the under-layer of her thin dress, before fisting her and absolving the fitful screams; her desperate scratches; her writhing only increasing him, and his teeth contorting the skin of her neck; piercing through, and he was sure he'd taste blood at any second; he'd feel it on his lips, dribbling down his face, and she knew him, apparently; she knew who he was. The bitch ought to know; she was beneath him; beneath him. She practically worked for him, it was her job. Just one.. How dare she tell the Prince. How dare she! "Mira-"

The rest of the word blocked out by her scream, as he latched upon her neck again, and surprised her simultaneously; pumping fiercely as tears ran down onto his face from hers; the wailing onto causing him to dig his hands into her; pulling her closer; pulling her legs up as her back ached between him and the wall, and he felt himself arching, already, as he dropped her and his mouth from her neck; fisting the thing until it snapped.[0]

**...**

Caleb walked slowly; aware of the shallow breathing beside him, but finding himself mesmerized by the teary eyes staring down in front of herself when he finally glanced a look, and he felt his chest locking excruciatingly. He needed to say something, she hadn't invited him to walk her home, and in fact she hardly seemed to notice as he navigated his eyes away. There was pattering behind them, and he forced his eyes on the road; his hands mimicking hers and finding the wrong amount of warmth in his pockets.. "I.. If I could only get the army inside the castle.. We'd have a fighting chance. There's got to be a way.."

Will sighed, and Caleb felt a hot flush against the ice and snow around him, feeling embarrassment, because he hadn't really wanted to say that.. But, she didn't seem to want him there at all. "Look.. Caleb.. I'm too tired to think anymore."

You're always tired. It sat on his tongue, but he bit it back because she'd think he was accusing her, when it was more of a saddness than anything else. And she was hiding, and she was false, and he just wished.. He wish he knew what she wanted, but he felt something in his stomach because he didn't want to know either. It was so hard.. "So, y-you like that Matt guy?"

"Why?"

It wasn't what he'd expected, and he felt himself startle at dark cocoa staring at him through the night; taking orangey tones when the streetlamps light bounced off them - reflecting away because something dark rejected the oppertunity to take on a shimmery quality that he found himself missing inwardly, though it was nothing that mattered so much to him. But she was morose; sombre in the synthetic light around them, with the snow reflecting it gracelessly. "I.. Just had a feeling.."

"That he liked me?"

"That he was following us." Caleb cursed at his hard tone, and looked away, but it was true. Something was following them, and Caleb would be damned if it wasn't the boy - probably half-drunk like last time she'd been out with him- ready to take away whatever small parts of her friendship Caleb had managed to salvage from his lunacy and foolish attempt at actually intreguing her.. But she looked down too, and he found it too hard not to take his chances, because she was just so..

"C-Caleb.." Caleb had pushed his hand into her pocket, to find her hand, but on pulling it out her cinnamon orbs met his encased in fear, and his found himself pulling off white, scratchy dressings, or at least dressings that should have been white as she whimpered at it tearing from her skin.. But he couldn't stop, until it all lay in his palm, and he stared at reddish-brown glaze that had crusted over the bindings feeling his throat closing up, and his head whirring violently; the fear increasing as he pushed up the sleeve, finding thick slices in her skin, and he glazed his fingers over her palm without touching, only feeling a wave of anger when she pulled it away and handed him her other arm.. What had she done? "I d-didn't.."

"Gamiméno ilíthio! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" She shrank back at that, but his grip tightened against his will around her delicate wrist; the hand that had pulled up her coat sleeve flinching and letting go for the tighter he grasped her, "YOU DON'T- WHAT- ..Why?"

She was shaking, suddenly, violently, and he suddenly dropped her arm and smashed his lips against her forehead; ignoring anything that might've stopped him, though nothing would.. The night was dead around them. "I didn- It wasn't me.."

"What?" His fingers were laced in her hair, and moulding around her jaw, as he tilted her face toward him, "Who did this, Will.. I'll.. I'll.."

"I.. Don't know.." He could feel the rush of fear and anxiety surging between them, and his own anger subsiding to deal with her pain, because.. She wouldn't do it. He knew she wouldn't - not by choice, but she'd seen terrible things.. He'd left her with terrible things.. "I.. Caleb.."

And sometimes she didn't have control of herself.. Caleb lowered his mouth more purposefully against her chilled skin, because she didn't have control of her empathy.. And people would be able to take advantage of that.. She'd been ready to kill herself on the battlefield; unable to kill herself in Cavigor. And he smiled through tear-quilted eyes; pulling her upward to link her own arms around his neck, his jaw resting against her temple, as he calmed the raging emotions that had activated in seconds. Will was clumsy and Will couldn't afford to be clumsy; for his sake as well as hers, because he.. There was nothing without her. She was so messy, and loud, and soft, and violent, and tender, and.. "You can't.. I feel so lost and you.. Please don't make me.. I can't.."

**...**

Will felt a hot, frustrated tear roll from his face to absorb into her forehead, as he tried to get the words out. He was good; brilliant at talking, and he always had so much to say and he was opinionated and.. And then everything ended up like this again; with Will trapped against him, and Caleb lost for the words he needed, though she thanked him for pulling her back where she belonged.. Where she smirked at his curse; stuttered between broken phrases, "You make me happier, Caleb."

"You're so stupid Will.." Something lodged in her throat, as thick, heated rain tangled itself into her skin, and he sobbed thickly, causing her own skin to tremble; latching onto his warmth, surrounding her, and grinning when his own fingers fisted the thick material of her coat, clutching her tightly and pressing his lips against her again and again and.. He seemed to wash everything away, because the fear washed down her face and into the winter's night, and his agony washed into her in kisses; on her temples; on her forehead; on her eyelids as she smiled at the tickle; on her cheeks in blistering heat because she was freezing. "Eíste epithymía mou."

**...**

Jeek watched with craving eyes, as the child blushed heavily; breaking her lips from his own, and smiling through sobs, as the pair lamently embraced and he murmured words of tomorrow.. Jeek doubted that; they would have to spend another weekend in paradise, as the struggled to drop the other's hand; almost pulling before finally dropping away, and Jeek waited, as he turned the corner, before he made his way towards her.

* * *

><p>[0]I know Miranda has like steely greenblue eyes, but it's more likely - in my opinion - that an odd breed might have an odd colour of eyes..

Gamiméno ilíthio - Fucking idiot!

Eíste epithymía mou - You are my desire.


	5. Chapter 5

Will felt a shiver tracing her spine, as the wind blew away the courage he'd embossed into her skin, but the voice was gone.. If there had ever been a voice, and her only concern was what had happened.. Had she.. The cold air whistled past her cheeks; slicing away the renewed confidence, and feeling a surge of paranoia seep into her as tree branches shook and she took several steps back, looking for- "Cale-"

He was gone.. Had he even been here? She shook her head frustratedly, and pulled out the Heart; glancing back and-

"Whoa!" Will jerked back as the passling lunged for her and screamed; grasping onto the cord as the toad-like creature yanked the Heart attached to it, refusing to let go despite it's slicing into her skin, as the passling dragging her along, until she tripped and hit the ground, "No! Ow!"

Will clutched her head where it had hit a metal bar, and turned her back onto the ground, staring up at the streetlamp went out, and she woozily pushed herself up to stare at the creature making his way up a tree.. It was a passling.. It was.. Was it Blunk?

"Blunk? BLUNK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"BLUNK RICH NOW! BLUNK SELL NECKLACE!"

**...**

Lord Cedric stopped, and breathed heavily as he dropped the crippled neck of the little dead girl down, having had finished with her the moment her screaming, and the pulse had subsided. It was catastrophic and mesmerizing, as her bones collapsed into a mess on the floor, and her hair splayed out around her. It was a pity, he supposed.. He hadn't meant to kill her, though she had certainly served her purpose.. Though now it was over he knew that that wasn't his Miranda, and that the satisfaction was already ebbing away. "When you know better, you'll do better."

Silence. At least this child knew her place then; he shouldn't have killed her, because she knew her place, and he knew that any consideration of a continuous harem would make him an infidel of his own works. Anyone he didn't kill now - now that he knew it was so satisfying to have them killed at his climax - would surely kill themself, but Lord Cedric supposed that a harem it was: his dungeons now full. Of women.

Miranda would learn to know better, though perhaps the Prince had given in; perhaps Miranda had moved to higher places, and the pitiful prince would have to condone himself for violating one girl and screaming the name of another.. Now, Phobos knew what it was. Prince Phobos could understand; the Prince was entirely rehabilitated now and Cedric could see that Phobos only held the coronation plans because the imbecile saw no other way to go.. But Elyon was star eyed; putty in his hands, and Lord Cedric felt his entire body clenching as a wave of envy infused itself within him.. To be envious.. Of that..

**...**

"He popped up in front of me, then he just grabbed the Heart and ran!" Cornelia's eyes flashed over the gash on Will's hand, and watched imperviously as Caleb skilfully slipped a gauze up; wrapping it around her wrist before she'd had a chance to see the injury. She wondered how he'd known, because he couldn't just always be carrying them, but she smiled soberly at Will's validness, where she had been distant before.. He was good for her. Well, maybe she was now; Cornelia had never initially pinned Will as someone who needed someone. But he was good for her now - now that she had powers, and those emotions, and Will seemed to be shrinking back for every step she'd almost taken forward. "And then he started talking about getting rich!"

"That greedy little fuzzball!" Cornelia forced a smile, as Caleb's green eyes shot to her with the sympathy she hated.. Because behind them now; the pair standing together, she'd caught their fingers entangling, and he wasn't wrong in thinking that it made something dislodge within her. It hurt. But she felt like a hypocrite when she thought that and looked at Will.

"I dunno.." And Taranee was different too; everyone was different, but Taranee had been entirely apologetic to Caleb, hell, she wouldn't say it, but in every acknowledgment of him she was so much more relaxed, and Cornelia knew that whatever had been bothering the girl had subsided. "Does that sound like Blunk to you?"

On the downside she was also losing the ability to be judgmental, apparently; it was getting hard to tell that she was the daughter of a judge, and if she got any more laid back she'd probably- Cornelia blushed and shook out of her mind the thought of Taranee resembling her brother - it was.. She wouldn't go there. "Of course it does! He's a greedy smuggler! What about it doesn't sound like him to you?"

Irma tensed then, and Cornelia felt the rush she'd had earlier; Elyon had been so angry, and Prince Phobos.. He had this control over her, and Cornelia shivered with rage for him. With rage for Elyon. With rage for Will.

"What, no stolen crystal jokes Irma?"

**...**

"You know, it shouldn't have been loose in your backpack, you should have held onto it." Matt's dark blue eyes wandered over to the group, and his eyes quickly flashed past Cornelia Hale to the younger girl standing next to- A name was lost to Matt, and he scrutinized the young boy; at least a year below himself, and Matt had seen him around.. With Will, usually; he'd been the one who'd taken her away last time and he had always felt an unease.

"I was holding onto it!" Matt frowned; wondering what they had lost, because the night was drawing closer to morning and not one of them could be sixteen.. Well, the boy might.. Callum? Damn.. It had been a long day, and his earlier encounter with the girl had only made it worse; he felt like a wreck around her.. Wasn't that meant to be for girls? Or for guys looking for.. Well.. It didn't help, that since Chelsea he'd heard nothing but.. Well.. Apparently the younger Alchemy gave an impression about redheads.. "I got mugged!"

Matt's eyes widened at that, and he made a sharp movement behind a tree as the boy's eyes shot knowingly in his direction.. "Who would Blunk even sell it to?"

"Phobos." The boy turned back to Will, and Matt himself felt a strange sensation when she made an unenthusiastic moan and her head fell against his shoulder beside her. She'd fallen asleep on him twice in one day though, and Matt supposed that he'd been wrong to think that she might.. That she might miss him. They had barely spoken since the year had began, and Will seemed to keep to herself.. And even when he saw Cornelia at a party, Will was never there, but why would she be.. Who would she go with.. "Passlings have a nasty habit of selling things that aren't theirs to the rich."

"Hey guys!" Hay Lin had pushed herself through a hole in a fence, and Matt frowned, because she was barely thirteen and a young thirteen at that.. And she'd been at home when he'd met Will, "I knew I heard it! It's back here!"

**...**

****"Phobo-oh Miranda! Hi!" Elyon smiled, but the girl only shifted slightly as Phobos turned and smiled, though softly, to her and she swallowed as he dropped the girl's chin from his fingers. "I was just.. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I.." He smiled and paused, and she took those seconds to ignore the burn -and the awkwardly shifting girl that went with it- in her chest, and to notice how much happier he was.. Maybe he thought that she'd learned; maybe he was glad that she'd stopped playing games. There was no point, anyway. He looked like an Angel and Elyon felt a mist of blush coating her cheeks as she dared think where she had been in this year. If he had been anything but a good man, he'd have either thrown her to the streets or.. "Could I have a second?"

Or she feared to think who she'd have become by this moment; if he had been obliging to her wishes. She nodded and smiled over her self-despair and bowed her head as she respectfully left her chambers; tears threatening when Miranda's voice echoed out quite kindly. "Thank you.. Princess."

She closed the door, and pressed her thumbs against the corners of her eyes; trying to banish her feelings of hatred and the images that disgustingly entered her mind. As if he would.. With her.. She was no older than Elyon herself.. Elyon breathed through her nose, pressing her back against the closed door and sliding down to sit; closing her eyes and forcing her mind to- Her innocent place. Lord Cedric was not so innocent as she thought and his kiss plagued her nightmares; shaming her that the nightmare for her was always the part when his lips left hers.. Those hungry kisses he always forced upon her; showing her the passions within his kindness. She supposed in this land that it was no sin to romance a younger girl.. But she was a princess, and he worked _for _her..


	6. Chapter 6

"I thank you.. But I would not." Miranda averted her eyes for the Prince's on her. He hadn't been asking.. But apologizing that he could not affiance her, and earlier in the year she would have spat on him. She would have cackled out that he was a coward and that she'd never have him anyway. But he was honestly sorry. And he had honestly wanted to save her in this way. "Y-You're.."

"I could n.. If you do not wish to go, I can only delay." A raw feeling clawed at her, and Miranda supposed he was just like his Caleb. Except that the murmurer boy had asked too many questions and had made too many assumptions and he hadn't had a right to her like that. Though.. Phobos had spoken now, and he appeared to be finished with his avoidance; respectful, regretful clarity lodged itself from him into her throat, as she shook her head. She had had so little here when Cedric had been her aspiration, and yet.. Now she had nothing, and it was now that she no longer held a wish to leave. Detachment had subtly attached her to this castle, and the long thin corridors surrounding her. She shook her head and felt her eyes itching slightly, in acceptance of his honesty.

"I.. I don't want to go." She didn't. He was well aware, but she supposed he was hoping she'd go. Out of fondness, more than authentic distaste for her presence. Prince Phobos only seemed to think himself allowed to remain with those he most despised. She could see it. He hated Elyon.. He hated Cedric.. He hated himself. "Aliquam vitae."

"Miranda.. Don't libel into any sort of story." She hung her head then; she knew what she'd done. It was a story of romance, but she had meant it in no such a way and he knew. It was just as him calling her a sister; she doubted that the Prince was teasing, or at least she hoped he wasn't.[0] Maybe if he had asked she would have married him after all. He was so alone, and his Caleb had found his weakness.. He didn't even want the crown anymore - he had told her, in so many cryptic words, but the princess was of no right mind. And where was he to go? This was their home, and she refused to leave the walls she loved. The mourning man who was looking for something lost.. "Now, please. Elyon is waiting."

He'd never force her to leave, but Miranda spilled tears anyway. Because every damned thing he did was for duty.. And how unacceptable it was for her to ever attempt compare herself to his sister, whom - upon Miranda pulling the door back - fell into the room, sat against the floor. "I'm sorry, princess. I'm don- The prince will see you now."

**...**

Hay Lin clambered through the portal; looking back as shallow breaths seemed to follow them, and sh- "Oh! Wow, look at this snow!"

"Yeah, looks like they put us into Phobos' freezer-" Hay Lin grinned, as Cornelia snarled at Irma, causing the brunette to straighten noticably, "Oh, I'm sorry. I mean _'it is really cold'_."

She snickered a little, but Hay Lin felt her own back straightening as instinct, when Caleb pushed her forward by the head; hiding a smirk when Irma boredly rebuttled his right to hit her and she heard his loose palm butt against her jacket again. He had once told her he felt like he was herding sheep.. Though.. Everything got seriouser after Will.. Well, Hay Lin didn't know, but it was Will who kept changing. "It's the Torus Filney Ice Plane. The castle's on the other side of that ridge."

"I still can't believe that walking bathmat betrayed us!" Hay Lin looked up, as Caleb pulled her forward; taking Will's hand in the other, though Hay Lin didn't mind. Maybe Will didn't either; he liked to feel like he was on top off things, and she'd learned that he needed to look after people. And it was harder for Will anyway; Hay Lin didn't mind being the baby.. But he had forced Will into the position. Will didn't need people to take care of her, and Hay Lin had liked her better when she was loud. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-"

"How are we gonna find him if we can't fly? I'm freezing!" And then there was Taranee.. Will was more like a Taranee now. And Hay Lin supposed that the dark girl should be the one attached to his opposing hand, because she was next youngest. And she was scared of way more things than Hay Lin was.. And Will.. Caleb made Will afraid of things, more than she had been afraid of them herself. It wasn't his fault, really, but the wind whispered to her all things of Will's claustrophobia around him.. She needed to be left alone.

_Alone_. It had been there all afternoon, and Hay Lin felt colder because of it, but it wasn't wrong; her wind. Will liked to be alone. She just wanted to be left alone. "He'll head for the lowest crossing point at third pass. Blunk's not as fast as us, but he's lighter."

Hay Lin blew out hot air, and watched the cloudy condensation as her legs weakly protested his growing speed, but Will stumbled and bleat, and he slowed down. It was like she was a baby now: Caleb was turning her into this baby, and she wasn't even fun anymore. Hay Lin flushed at her rudeness, but it was true.. Will was just.. Deflating.. It was like he was sucking the life out of her, and even Hay Lin felt it.. He was suffocating her and she needed to be left alone. She needed to grow up. She was.. It was like she was just pushing her out, and Hay Lin felt something within her melt, because she wasn't mad at Will.. Or Caleb.. But she had been his favourite first..

"How does being lighter help?" Caleb frowned then, and let go of their hands; bending over to pick up a rock and lobbing it out over the snowy fields.. Which.. Collapsed. Hay Lin winced as the scenery seemed to cave in, and suddenly wish he'd been protective enough to leave her at home. "Okay.. Got it!"

**...**

"You wanted me.." Prince Phobos swallowed thickly, as the waif of a child entered the room carrying sin within her every sickly step. There was nothing there, and Phobos felt himself staring at his sheets rather than her. "I know I should've-"

"Now, Miranda was inflicted and," Phobos smirked, as he recalled her features. His mother adored his tears; she often proclaimed them to be the signs that he was good. But it had been unclear for years, and Phobos could not for so long - under the impression that her words had been literal - find himself to grasp it.. Of all his knowledges and literatures.. Why would he possibly want to spill goodness itself? Elyon rarely cried, and perhaps she was clever. But he sincerely would like to think that there was simply no goodness left. "I'm entirely sure that she wouldn't have minded."

"She's hurt?" Phobos frowned. He found himself shaking his head, and sighed because he'd muchly felt obligation to slap her, but instead he watched the petty girl's hand flex. Anxiety was no good for a princess, and perhaps there was a something in her.. It was the telltale sign of guilt; something that had been residing since she'd set eyes on him, though now it seemed far more desperate.

"I wanted to enlighten you, of the coronation.." He'd much rather kill her, and be done with her filthy incestuous blood; their blood which ran thickly.

* * *

><p>[0] So she knows what he's been calling her, but Phobos thinks that she doesn't understand<p>

Aliquam vitae - You are my life


	7. Chapter 7

Yan Lin felt the etches of time, sinking deeper onto her face and she knew what it meant. There would be little time for concealing the matter, if Caleb were to cry wolf and there was no doubt in her mind that he _would _eventually supress nothing from her. He was too fond; too quick, and too sharp to the eye and he hadn't missed the incompatibility that Will would have a strengthened power of the girls. It was an influence; an illusion of Will's mind, that she had no thoughts on what her own strength would look like. But something clattered and Yan Lin dropped the sheet she had been folding; pushing open the closet and fumbling aged fingers against a broom. "Blunk."

The passling stared at her, through yellow, accusable eyes and Yan Lin sighed. There had been no contact from Kandrakar, and faith was blind to her now because she was no longer a guardian, and these were of no circumstances that she had built her form. The greedy passling pushed a teabag into his mouth and the old woman held the broom a little tighter. No one could be trusted in these times.

"Why did you do it, Blunk?" The passling only stood for a long while, and Yan Lin pushed the broom into a corner, taking sured steps forward in hopes of asserting. The smuggler had never seemed intellegent, though her eyes were at a constant between him and the rebel - who seemed far too characterized, at least to be a thief; no, at worst the boy was only lecherous - but perhaps he had known too well.. This child was no keeper; proven when the bound Heart would not have left her. It wasn't part of her, but instead the Oracle had been wrong. "Why did you steal the Heart? Will trusted you."

She was careful not to lie to the passling, because all things were not as they seemed. And she had at least a good year yet; it was not her time and she would not be taken by such a breed. He only looked at her though, and raised his hands. "Blunk take nothing! Only _'tea bag'_."

**...**

Mathew Olsen sat, feeling the warm glow of whatever it was in front of him, and he could only swallow, occasionally, as he stared up at the raging electricity.. It was like lightning; blue fulmination that created it's own breeze; an icy tingle corrupting his spine, though he had known that he had seen them go in. He wasn't imagining it and he had seen them go in..

Matt blew out white air against the darkness, and pushed himself to his feet; taking steps back before he ran. Charged. Broke into a sprint and- "WHOA!"

It was beautiful, if the word was enough to describe the thick decent of mountains and snow that were met by the background of slate-coloured mountains an- Matt faltered, as he moved to take a step forward, and his sneakers slid against ice.

**...**

Will felt a steady tint of rose to her palidity, as Caleb's eyes travelled her length with a brush of a smile, and she knew he was only watching her because he was worried, but she grinned nervously and felt a rush when he mirrored her; navigating his eyes away when she raised a questioning eyebrow. They were supposed to be working.. On duty..? Whatever he wanted to call it, he was making a fool out of himself every time she looked back at him, and she might be just as bad if she weren't heavily aware of the thickness of the ic- "NOOOO! AAAAAGGH!"

"Hey! Will, wasn't that your boyfriend?" Will felt her shoulder tense, as her eyes flashed first to Caleb, and then to Hay Lin, who was peering to their left. Her boyfriend? Hay Lin wasn't the most observant, but she had to be joking? Will felt the blush darken heavily, as Caleb grew at least three inches; his back almost as straight as hers and she wondered if she could jump and just get it over with..

Will sighed and felt her heart pumping faster, because Caleb had already started and- "Wait, MATT?"

The boy was in Meridian! Jesus, he'd think he'd stumbled into Narnia, and Will forgot the snow; sprinting past Caleb as fast as the thick white would let her.. She fell to her knees, then, once she'd arrived to the heavy mass of snow that Hay Lin had claimed to be her.. Well.. And Will pushed through the snow finding.. "Will..?"

"Oh my gosh.. Aw dear.." Will cursed the icy air slicing against her throat as she took shallow breaths; excessively aware of Matt's affectionate smile as Caleb pulled him forcefuly from the snow, "I'd love to take you back to Earth to explain all this.."

"_Back_ to Earth..?" Matt faltered at that, and Will let out a shriek when the boy clumsily fell into her, before she realized that Caleb had pushed him. And she felt the cold infiltrating her as he trudged away; his eyes' murderous look being something she wish she could laugh at.. But they were on buisness.. They were..

"We're chasing this little green guy, who stole something of ours to sell to the Prince of evil, so we have to keep moving.." This was not good.


	8. Chapter 8

Blunk had immediatly sniffed out the portal, when the older Yan Lin had told him. He had barely earned the trust of Caleb, and it was often thought that he was behind any misplaced items and he was not about to lose friendship over the rattish passling Jeek. "GIRLS! BLUNK NOT GUILT-"

The passling yelled out then, as on his first step he slipped and began rolling down the mountainside.

**...**

"I can.. Feel.. My toes.." Irma frowned, as Caleb continued at his furious rate despite Hay Lin's quivering words; footfalls coming fast, and heavy enough that Irma worried about the thin snow below them. It wasn't their fault, if Will liked Matt Olsen. It wasn't their fault if he was here. It was not their fault if he was angry!

"I don't understand.."

And _he _didn't help! Who's idea was it that Will should ever be close to Matt Olsen? And how the hell did he even find them? What was he doing here, the little rat.. Irma fumed silently, because he was an idiot. Everyone from the age of twelve - considering Elyon - seemed to crush on him, but he was an ass! With bad timing! "Don't talk. Just _walk_!"

"The notch isn't much further." And what about Will? Caleb was being moody, and Matt needy and Will- Will was just standing there; paling by the second, and Irma wondered if the girl was hoping to camouflage herself into the snow. She might as well - Will didn't do much else nowadays, other than cowering, crying or screaming. She was just.. There wasn't much there anymore, and maybe Caleb was brilliant for her, but Meridian was not.. "Na mou álma, í boró na ton othísei?"

Irma stopped. Will had done so too; her back straightening as though asserting to the sound; a faint growling that Irma almost quipped as Caleb.. "Oh my- Fuck! I'm not seeing this!"

Matt grabbed Will, and Irma herself latched onto Hay Lin; if only for Caleb's sake as his eyes darted to them, before he pulled Taranee closer - then pushing the girl behind him and stepping forward to do the same to Cornelia and Will. And Matt.. Well, if he'd had the chance, Irma wasn't sure if Caleb might feed him to the bears, but she blushed as she laughed nervously at the image. "Heh.. Um.. I suggest, we, stay real.. Close.. T-together!"

"We're about to be bear food and you're joking about staying warm?" Caleb did push Matt back - forcibly - and Irma cursed herself for forgetting about the crabby jealousy-bomb waiting to go-

"No no no! Irma's right!" Will pull Matt towards them, and Irma gaped; she was? It had been a cover up for the laugh! The fool was taking a secondary joke seriously! Will had gone mad! "Everyone over here and jump!"

Irma's eyes widened as Caleb's face contorted inquisitively with realization.. Will was a genius! "EVERYBODY JUMP!"

**...**

"A passling, _Jeek_, has sent a message." Prince Phobos barely breathed a slight snicker and Cedric frowned at the arrogance. Not that Phobos would care little for long; he shook his arm, with the messenger bird perched on it.

"_Tell Phobos, Jeek have Heart of Kandrakar! Meet Jeek on Kilm Ice-fall! Go!_" The dumb parrot had had the Prince at Heart, though Cedric felt an aggrivation of knowing that when the man turned around, the concern in his eyes was not for the power. There were few, and generally brutal ways, of taking a Heart that was bound. She couldn't be dead yet, but the Keeper was not the type to throw things away.

**...**

"Quick thinking Irma!" Irma grinned, but Caleb grunted an amusement at that. They had cracked the brittle ice, and had slid into an icy pipeline; now, obviously, at the end of the watery vein in a bubbled expanse which he highly doubted had been in Irma's mind. The girl _had _been joking, but he daren't point it out, as the Matt shivered ignorantly; lost in a panicky fear.

"Thanks!" The brunette breathed heavily, causing misty condensation as she then glared to Cornelia; apparently milking the coincidence that her words were of use for all it was worth, "And I believe the words you're searching for are '_I'm sorry! USEFUL Irma'_!"

"Now how do we get out?" Caleb's eyes shot to Will, and then the Matt's hand on her hip; winding his arm around her as she- Caleb bit his tongue and wish she wouldn't let him, but he knew she was focused and he revoked his gaze from her fierce unconscious grasp; inspecting the _room _with sharp eyes..

"There's some kind of hole here!" He couldn't do it- Couldn't face it. Not _him_. Not that spindley, sickly, drunken- Caleb grimaced as Taranee blanched on glancing down the tunnel.

* * *

><p>Na mou álma, í boró na ton othísei? - Shall I jump, or can I push him? (Waaay, Caleb made a joke)<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

"No blame Blunk! Blame Jeek! NO BLAME BLUNK! BLAME JEEK!" Blunk easily avoided the crevice; passing the bear-like polikí árktos' that were slowly making their way into a burrow in the ice, and squinting up at the silhouette in the misty distance. "NO BLAME BLUNK! BLAME JEEK!"

**...**

"But what if it just goes down and.. _Stops_?"

Caleb cursed the dark girl; his hands on her back, but her fingers tightly clutching the edges of the cracked ice. He took one hand away to physically pry away her hands, and felt the slight trembling in her body. He only had so long before hypothermia would begin, and he already feared for HAy Lin, who had claimed a love of snow, but was quickly draining in energy; her colour frighteningly bluish. "It'll lead to the wayward side of the mountain! Trust me! GO!"

The ice crackled somewhere, and a roar filled the chambers; echoing around them and giving Caleb the chance to push her as Taranee froze up. But he had to; the polikí árktos were coming, and Caleb pushed Hay Lin and Cornelia down together, then Irma, then-And Caleb didn't have a chance to think, as he pushed the older boy down the chute and she moved forward to follow; pulling her back and-

**...**

Will felt something implode, as she was pulled back, and Caleb slammed his lips against hers; heat and panic and animalism writhing through her, as his sensations collided with hers and she met his own adrenaline; his own carnality; his own resentful distress and angst, and she knew it wasn't a coincidence; knew it was about Matt, but it was over too quickly, and yet her lips felt crushed and blistered and swollen, and her face burned furiously with the exposure to his feverish palms flat against her face; his fingers having had been barely clamping and entangling with the front-most roots of her hair for that single second, and her heart surged as he pushed her into the icy domain - memories of her past evaporating as his being corrupted her mindset, making her own title lost to her until she hit the snow at the bottom and remembered the Heart and the girls and Matt Olsen. "I SEE HIM!"

Will stumbled to her feet, as Hay Lin pointed and the others made their way toward the shadow of a passling, and she smiled a dizzy beam as Caleb yanked her up at the other side; Matt blindly following the others as euphoria exerted her to grin as they ran, and- "Shit!"

She laughed loudly, grasping her arms around the boy's neck as they slid senselessly down the instant decline of a heavy slope they'd gone over too fast to avoid, but she felt exhileration, as he laughed - presumably at her lunacy, as she cackled; feeling extacy and elation despite their exigency. "Eísai trelós!"

"WHAT?"

"I said_ 'YOU'RE CRAZY'_!" Will radiated and cackled, as she pulled him up; already chasing the others again, because they couldn't afford to be behind and they were behind and they-

Will skid to a halt and felt her smile fall into awe as she stared down to where the girls were staring into the distance, and she dropped his hand as her eyes bulged at the sight of a second passling assaulting the first, and Blunk's voice echoing out to them desperately, "_THEIF JEEK! THEIF JEEK!_"

"There's two of them?" Will felt her face fall, as her eyes zoned to Caleb; following his aversion to the scene behind the pair of smuggler-passlings. And she swallowed; pushing forward and trying to ignore the qualm of fear at the sight of Cedric.. And an army.

Blunk threw the Heart in the air, as he continued to fight with the other, and Will didn't hesitate jumping forward despite Cedric's full snake-ish weight throwing itself in her direction. "OCHI THA!"

* * *

><p>Eísai trelós! - You're crazy!<p>

OCHI THA! - NO WILL!

One note...Satisfying? Will seems to have.. _'Perked up' _..Don't ya think? ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Will hit the snow and let the glowing crystal fall into her hands, and Caleb felt himself jolt, as the tiny frame drove to roll swiftly to her left; missing the lumbering body of the snake's width by mere inches, but taking no time to hesitate opening her palm and letting the orb float where she lay on her stomach, a bright grin and a glint in her eyes that scared Caleb slightly - if only for the fact that he doubted none that it was that look that had nearly commited her suicide miliseconds before, "GUARDIANS UNITE!"

"Watch this Matt! It's really cool!"

Caleb's gaze surged to the paled ghost of an elder; the seventeen-odd boy seeming jostled by Hay Lin's words alone; practically throing into an attack when the bright lights beamed, but Caleb had no chance to reprimand him; to grasp his arms and prevent him from running and killing himself, as Lord Cedric snarled and lunged forward at the young man, and Caleb found a sword jolting in front of him before he'd had the chance to move. "Give me the Heart!"

No.. No. Caleb shook his head, as the smile fell from Will's face and her eyes darted over the scene. He shook his head, with steely features and pleading eyes when hers met his, but she faltered, "..Okay! Don't hurt him!"

Caleb snarled; snatching his arm away as a guard grasped, crushing nerves and muscles with no effort to relieve any pain. She was talking about Matt; he knew. He wasn't meant to be here. He wasn't _allowed _to die. But Caleb cursed, because her final descision had been the look on his face, and he knew it meant that he'd looked scared: frightened enough, that Will had fallen from her high.

"Release them both!"

Will had thrown the Heart, and Caleb stumbled, as the cold grip release itself, and he stumbled forward; grasping the supposed alpha by his collar, and picking the Matt up; dragging him away, because the boy was stunned and gaping. His eyes fell to Will, then, as soon as he threw the living corpse away from the action, and turned to stare as thousands of Hearts fell; disappearing in the enemies hands.

"Oh.." Caleb felt something kick, pleasantly, inside him as Will's lips twisted into a smirk; a sardonic half-smile that he'd forgotten she could make as the Heart of Kandrakar hung loosely by it's cord on a single of her fingers. "You wanted the _real _one?"

"You_ insolent _little-" Cedric's seething words didn't have a chance to succumb nor conclude, as Irma hit the ground at full force; her fists digging into the thick snow, and water rising to douse the snake-man's brutallion. And he pulled the older Matt up, with a slightest more sincerity as the audit's need vanished; a short-lived battle closing, as icy wind whipped the water into ice. It was like Will had never left, though Caleb stared away when Will landed; the air in his lungs heating considerably, as the boy stared at her blindly.[0]

**...**

"Matt, are you okay?" Matt Olsen found himself gripping the snow as a woman clasped har hand to his face, and heavily, flirtatiously lashed browns seemed to search his face for something, as his entire body clenched; barely registering the dark plumness to her lips, nor the sheen to her cheeks, nor her swallowing as his eyes premeditated the outline of her curves; the outward rounds, then heavy incline; the muscles of her exposed stomach tensing slightly in the icy cold, and he was vaguely aware of the world around him as her dark, bluish-green skirt hugged the last of the curving pair of hips, that led to legs that- "Matt?"

"Great.. Now he gets randy.." Matt blinked and turned to the brunette critically raising a judgmental brow, his eyes wandering and his body heating with something he supposed would resemble fear as Cornelia Hale's sharp eyes slanted.

"You.."

"I.. I.."

"I guess now you realize why I've missed a couple of classes lately?" He wheezed a smile, as Will grinned; a somber glow engulfing them, as they seemed to return to their usual forms, and he wondered if _Libertine _might be a lesser misconception than he'd berated upon the others.. X-rated changing into clumsy, as her grin drunkly covered her face, and she reached her hand out; apparently causing the creation, as burning blue electricity stormed in front of her small form. "Let's go home."

* * *

><p>[0] Will had never left - Idk if you get it, but that's a reference to her having had been a little <em>'low'<em> lately.. And she hasn't been sacastic since.. Well, basically since she realized that she fancied him.


	11. Chapter 11

"Blunk girls' friend!" Will closed the initial portal, and Irma frowned as the girl smirked; sardonically patting the passling's head as he clamored on; who was she trying to impress? "Not hurt girls! Ever!"

"Ohh.. We're _so _sorry!" Taranee hung her head, as Will pushed herself up, onto the edge of a dumpster; her legs swinging as she balanced precariously.. There was something wrong with her, and Irma found something sinister in that Caleb was currently threatening the young man's life for their secrecy, and sending him home, whilst Will was in the brightest mood than she'd been for.. For months! Had _he _really done that? _Matt_? This was ridiculous! "We feel so bad, for suspecting you of stealing!"

"Hey speak for yourself!" Cornelia frowned, biting out the words. That was another thing! Stealing! She'd been robbed! Mugged in the street; victimized by a smelly smuggler-toad, and Will Vandom looked practically high! ..In fact.. Irma shook her mind of the thought, though her eyes did wander back to the fourteen year-old. "I'm still missing two pens and a scrunchie!"

"Look under bed?" The passling shrugged, and even Irma had to snicker at Cornelia's glare, but the humor was short lived as Caleb strode forward.

"In nine days, Phobos drains Elyon's power. Prepared or not, my army is going to have to attack, and I am not losing this battle to fatigue." Irma rolled her eyes at that; apparenly the words _'week'_ and _'end'_ meaning nothing to the boy, because she knew what was coming, and she really prefered when she'd got his special treatment for a short period, to the current second dad he was becoming now.

"We know. _'__Get to bed'_." Irma smirked, wondering if the redhead would even care, though as she turned away she didn't need to glance back; she could feel the boy's cheeks flaring red as she waved the last few words out casually - their implications bypassing no one, except perhaps Hay Lin's clean mind, and Will's incredibly razzled one, "Good luck_ with Will_. I think she's dropped a couple fruit loops when she hit her head."

**...**

Caleb scrutinized the decending figures, then, until each had started to fog into the mist that the cold created, and he'd turned to find a body slamming welcomely itself against his; her hands and fingers teasing their way through his jacket as she drew them over his sides and arms: running them over his shoulders, and round the back to meet only when her outstretched arms rest at either side of his neck. And he couldn't help but laugh; a breath of humor as she grinned energetically at him; shining eyes wide russet, and her rouge, bottom pinkish lip trapped between her teeth. He could feel the energy; the rejuvenated, lively state and he didn't bother to hide his adulation of her spirit. She was Will again, if only full of adrenaline, and everything he felt so absolutely about her anyway, was concentrated as he was reminded of the rush at seeing her smile; her real smiles, for he'd honestly forgotten, that her lately beams had been withdrawn; her laughs mirthed, but not _hysterical_.

He didn't realize how much he missed this Will, until the current moments; until she had spurted life, and Caleb could not, quite simply, withold himself, because there was no questioning of who had caused it; her catalyst the speed of seconds, and she was seeing it again: the fun. It made her better at everything, where he got clumsy for trying. He just.. He hadn't noticed. Because nothing compared to Will anyway.

"Will.."

"Caleb."

He smiled softly as she mimicked him; the calm, almost inducing tone being laced with the sardonic twist he found now to be something he'd never wish again to live without - a teasing grip to it, that ambushed and infurated him; maddening the senses within him in such a way that he had once only been provoked to lash out at. He hadn't known what it was; he still didn't know what to do with it, and her body seemed to fizz and vibrate with her exhilerating contentment of elation at his exposure: he'd shown her everything. He'd _tried _to.

He'd pushed everything he knew, and everything he felt through his lips to hers; grinding against rouge pink and hoping to remind her of his worth; or at least to remind her to pity him, because he hated that man - that boy - with every fibre of his being. And it wasn't like Phobos, because this boy was better. But somehow when he was there that made him worse; he was just there. Always there, but Will had waved the boy off; still groping her older form in his mind, but _'Matt'_ could do what he liked.[0]

Caleb ignored the cool rush of air passing between the space behind his neck and her arms, and the sound of cars and horns and life in the close distance: life was here, in this dark street, where the first streetlamp flickered experimentally, and it didn't bother to irk him that they were still off at some time in the morning..

"You know, I was listening to Irma a-"

She snickered at that, but he tightly knit his hands around her and she moved; tiptoeing, though he ignored the gesture - only grinning because she couldn't reach his lips.

"There's this thing on Friday."

"You don't dance."

So she knew exactly what he was talking about, but he knew that she'd still expect him to ask her.. Or maybe not; she was no Cornelia, and she didn't even like parties, but she'd fooled him into wanting to take her. Properly. Without any misconceptions, and that boy could stare at her all he wanted. But he knew that it was a game now; he'd have to draw her in if he wanted her, because she wasn't being pensive anymore.. "And yet I've been forced to more parties than I'd like to admit."

"And you didn't even attend one."

"And I didn't even have a date."

"And that's a cardinal sin, if you count Cornelia's opinion." He pulled her then - an effort to quell her from her livelihood and spirited nature to argue, as much as it was to convince her; because he wanted her - ignoring her snicker, and the flush of his cheeks, as seizure and impulsiveness had his hands lower than her back; her legs being loosely swayed experimentally, as her arms wrapped properly and her feet must have been inches from the ground.

She had plumped the intensity of her lips, even as she smiled at him, but he refused to lose another argument, when they had only just stared fighting once again, and he had obviously proven superiority; with her ass literally in his hands, and Caleb smirked as she tried _not _to look like she was waiting. "Cornelia _is _a very good, close personal friend of mine.."

"_Friend?_ I always thought you two woul-" He found that affliction of her power was too much, and he was wrong to assume his place as dominant, when she was obviously a professional - knowing exactly in which ways to lure him, though he knew fine well that she wasn't; the irony being, in that fact, that it only roused him further to impart himself over her lips, making no stray to breathe because he'd already decided that should he die now then he'd have no better fate of death; her clumsy, virginal, expertized hands fumbling further into his hair, as his warm breath soaked up hers and there was no way for him to describe himself; herself, as he finally submitted, though she'd captured his lip again, and made him swallow as she dragged him away from himself; her teeth dragging over his texture, and pushing against him again before he'd had enough time to remember that he'd come up for breath; before he'd remembered to breathe.

It was when she'd pushed to open wider, and a sweetish taste had entered his mouth to conquer and _cream _him, that he'd finally darted back; her landing those inches forcefully to her feet, and his head twinging discontentedly where her fingers had been stripped from the nape of his neck and the hairs in which she had entangled with stung with a ripping sensation of when she'd left; her swollen lips illustrating the look of how his felt, though he found his smirk when she'd swallowed without satisfaction. She was _meant _to be going to sleep. "Come with me."

She'd seemed a little ofguarded by that, doing all but rolling her eyes, though with a sense of disappointment in her exasperation. "Jeeze, I thought I was, but-"

"I meant the thing.. Not.." Her eyes widened in realization and she blushed, and he stepped forward to pull her head to his chest. "I.."

I missed you.

"You should go home and get to bed." He was quite sure, for once, that maybe the lack of honesty wasn't the worst thing he could _not _be telling her. He'd tell her another day.[1]

* * *

><p>[0] How grown up, a little <em>ha ha, I've got her <em>I think, coming from Caleb ;)

[1] Idk if that's obvious as a reference to his secret murmuriness..

One more chapter folks - I'll try tonight, but probably tomorrow morning.


	12. Chapter 12

Will Vandom had stumbled home; her knees buckling, legs jelly, and her heart beaming as she took the stairs just because Caleb didn't like them.. And pushed up on her tiptoes, and grinned because he was right.. If she ever did forget her key on her own, she would never reach it, but she was only testing anyway.. And she pushed the door open, her eyes locking on her mother's coat, and she slid the door silently closed until it made a single _click_. "_Hello Will.._"

**...**

Nerissa smirked, as the _clunk _resounded around the caving walls of inner Mount Thanos as the little girl dropped the key with her great heaving smile. It was too hard to follow her; her mind growing stronger outside these walls, but Nerissa was quite comfortable where she was - her mind finding a new home, where she would soon renew her crumbling flesh."Oh, come now Will.. Where's your smile?"

The little girl had ripped up her sleeves, and Nerissa smirked at the flawless sheen of transformed skin.. She didn't even know; what that Heart could do. She didn't deserve it. "_W-where's yours?_"

Nerissa started at this; her eyes squinting down at the image of hers that soaked into the lava.. Smart question. Nerissa had forgotten that the little girl had been clever. Clever enough to wake herself. Clever enough to assert her dreams. Clever enough to inquire Nerissa's identity.. Little bitch. "Come, come.. Isn't it better this way? If I'm a surprise?"

"_I.. I'm not fond of surprises.._" Nerissa grinned. It was easier than he thought; the child folding into her fingers.. She would have thought the girl would fight it; would try to ignore the voices.. Not this little girl. Not little Will.. Not when the Oracle of time Himself was waiting for decades and centuries for one little babe and she was a failure. Nerissa knew Quintessence. She would not lie, to say that she belonged of nature was a lie; she was no Quintessential body. Born with the power. The gift. But neither - despite the Oracle's profound promise that she was - was Will.

"Then I'll warn you that you aren't going to sleep well tonight." But Nerissa had taken the power; she had learned to artificially create it, and the Heart had accepted and cherished her. This girl was making a mess; it was all within her worries.. She had a right, to be worried. "Sweet dreams."

**...**

_Fire._

_Fire!_

_FIRE!_

_Will opened her eyes as charring combustion flooded her senses and she felt herself choking; the smell of singed, smokey ashes and she backed away from the thick flames that taunted and danced in merriment.. Or perhaps they raged in fury? They filled the room with and intense heat and Will might've brimmed with tears; would they not evaporate on touching her skin because she burned; she screamed out, as her black dress scorched in a redder anger than her own hair; igniting and bursting, and what could she do?_

_"Caleb?"_

_...  
><em>

_"Caleb!"_

_...  
><em>

_"CALEB!"_

__"No, Will.. Not tonight.. This is **my **dream now."


End file.
